However, these days a cruise ship’s lifeboats can be multipurpose - used to ferry passengers to the port as necessary. Traditionally, the primary focus of a lifeboat was survival, and so the design was based solely with survival in mind. Lifeboats are usually one of three designs, but the most popular is the fully enclosed option which provides protection for passengers whatever the weather conditions. This is the only way to ensure the survival of everybody on board should the ship sink or catch fire. If the ship runs into trouble of any sort, and the entire contingent of individuals on board need to leave the ship immediately, there must be a series of accessible lifeboats with a combined capacity for every person on the ship. And, notwithstanding what happened with the Costa Concordia, one of the essential functions of a cruise ship captain’s job is to supervise the overall safety of the ship. The case of the Titanic has served as the ultimate precedent in ensuring that everybody on the ship has a spot on a lifeboat should the need arise to abandon the ship. This was mostly due to outdated regulations and the fact that it was never anticipated that every soul on board would need to leave the ship simultaneously.ĭespite not having a sufficient number of lifeboats, some were broken before they could be used, and several of them left the vicinity of the sinking ship with only half the number of passengers they could have potentially carried. This is because it is a well-known fact that the Titanic simply did not have enough lifeboats to accommodate all of the passengers on board. The first thing that comes to mind when mentioning lifeboats on a cruise ship is the Titanic. Why We Care About Lifeboats On Cruise Ships This is because the full listed capacity includes extra beds in cabins that can accommodate up to 4 people however, these cabins are usually occupied by no more than two people at any given time. You should remember that despite a ship’s listed capacity, the ship may still be considered full when the capacity is far lower than this number. (If you’re not sure what a “tender” is, check out our tips for first-time cruisers.) Typically, a cruise ship will use its own lifeboats as tender boats when it needs to tender passengers to shore. Ships will exceed this number in most cases, usually accommodating around 150% of the total number of souls on board. And all of that extra space does not sit idle. This means that a minimum of 75% of the full human capacity of the ship is accommodated in lifeboats, with the other 25% permitted to be accommodated in life rafts (usually of the inflatable kind) should the need arise. Each ship must have lifeboats situated along each side of the ship, with a minimum of 37.5% of the ship’s passenger capacity accommodated on each side. The number of lifeboats on cruise ships is highly regulated by SOLAS, an acronym referring to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. Where Are The Lifeboats On a Cruise Ship?Īre There Enough Lifeboats On Cruise Ships?.Lifeboats Today – Do They Have Enough Room For Everyone On Board.Why We Care About Lifeboats On Cruise Ships.Are There Enough Lifeboats On Cruise Ships?.The last major cruise ship disaster involving lifeboats was the Costa Concordia wreck in 2012. However, the likelihood of the ship sinking is extremely low, with a far higher risk associated with everyday tasks like driving to work. While ships are designed and regulated so that everybody is guaranteed a spot on a lifeboat should the need arise, there is no guarantee that this will always be achieved. Most ships have extra lifeboats that exceed the ship’s passenger capacity to accommodate for lifeboat malfunctions, etc. Have we truly learned from the mistakes of the past? Today, are there enough lifeboats on cruise ships sufficient to save every single person on the ship? With the combined numbers of passengers and crew, the capacity of today’s modern cruise ships are often three or four times greater than that of the Titanic.Ĭontemporary lifeboats are required by law to have a sufficient number of lifeboats onboard to ensure a seat on a lifeboat for every soul on board the ship. The Titanic disaster was more than 100 years ago, and it remains a vivid, cautionary tale.
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